The free proxy servers of The TOR Project protect the identities of more than just hacktivists, hackers, dissidents in authoritarian countries and office drones surfing porn. Ordinary criminals apparently use it as well.

Eight people have been arrested on three continents for what federal agents called one of the most sophisticated markets for illegal drugs on the Internet.

The DEA's agent in charge said his agency, the DoJ and other law enforcement agencies participating in the two-year-long investigation code-named "Operation Adam Bomb" were able to track down members of the ring despite efforts to hide their identities and locations using "advanced anonymising online technology."

Spokespeople for the DEA and DoJ issued a lot of purple-prosish statements about the ability of the long arm of the law to reach anywhere in the world or on the Internet, brushing aside the curtains drug dealers use to try to hide their identities.